Los Angeles Lawyer Assisting Accident Victims

Catastrophic Injuries

Catastrophic injuries may have an impact not only on the area of the body immediately affected but also on other parts of the body. For example, devastating damage to the neck or spine may disrupt signal transmission from the brain to the body. The result may be partial or complete paralysis. When someone suffers severe burns, they may be disfigured and also experience long-term nerve pain. If someone suffers permanent damage to the liver or another major organ, it may affect all of the aspects of their life. People who suffer multiple bone fractures may never again regain their strength or mobility.

There are many circumstances under which you might suffer catastrophic injuries. Among them are car crashes, motorcycle accidents, construction accidents, or an assault. The specific facts under which you suffer these injuries determine whether you may recover damages for them. Many accidents happen as a result of a person or business’ carelessness or recklessness, and a catastrophic injury attorney in Los Angeles can help you pursue damages from that person or business if you are able to establish the elements of negligence.

Negligence is made up of these elements: the defendant’s duty of care, the defendant’s breach of duty, causation, and damages. For example, suppose that the defendant is speeding at 100 mph on the freeway and rear-ends you, resulting in your suffering spinal damage. In most cases, a jury would find that the defendant had breached the duty to use reasonable care by speeding and not paying attention to traffic conditions.

Truck accidents quite frequently result in catastrophic injuries for more than one person. This is challenging because most individual truck drivers do not have sufficient insurance coverage on their policy to cover the full scope of damages for all of the potential victims of a major accident, such as a jackknifing accident that extends over multiple lanes or an explosion. You may be able to turn to other responsible parties, such as the trucking company or the manufacturer, if you are involved in a serious accident resulting in catastrophic injuries. In most cases, you will still be suing these parties under a theory of negligence or negligence per se. When you are suing a manufacturer, you may be able to hold the manufacturer strictly liable for a defective component of the truck, such as defective air brakes.

Premises liability cases are slightly different. In those cases, you must prove that there was a dangerous condition that the defendant created or that they knew or should have known about it. For example, if you were staying at a motel, and the balcony outside your window collapsed due to rotting beams, causing you to suffer traumatic brain injuries, you would need to show that the owner knew or should have known that the beams were rotten. All owners owe some duty to lawful visitors to keep their property reasonably safe and maintained, including a duty to conduct reasonable inspections for dangers, but they are not expected to absolutely insure a visitor’s safety.

Hire a Skillful Catastrophic Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles